Patricia Scott (public servant)

Patricia Scott
Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
In office December 2007 – September 2009
Secretary of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
In office May 2007 – December 2007
Secretary of the Department of Human Services
In office 26 October 2004 – May 2007
Personal details
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	Australian National University Macquarie University
Occupation	Public servant

Patricia Scott is a senior Australian public servant and policymaker. In her time as Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy she was responsible for rolling out the first stages of the Australian Government's $40-plus billion National Broadband Network.

Public service career

Scott joined the Australian Public Service in 1990.^[1]

John Howard appointed Patricia Scott as Secretary of the new Department of Human Services in 2004.^[2] She was instrumental establishing the new department.

In May 2007 Scott was appointed to lead the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.^[3] When the Rudd Government was elected in 2007, Scott continued her appointment as Secretary of the communications department, which was renamed to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE). In DBCDE she was responsible for rolling out the Government's $40-plus billion national broadband network.^[4]

After leaving her position in DBCDE in 2009, Scott moved to a roll as a Commissioner of the Productivity Commission.^[5][6] In 2011 she headed a Productivity Commission inquiry into the feasibility of a National Disability Insurance Scheme, concluding that the Australian Government should take action to provide reasonable support services for people with a disability.^[7]

Notes

1. Patricia Scott, Productivity Commission
2. Howard, John (22 October 2004). "Appointment of Secretaries" (Press release). Archived from the original on 19 November 2013.
3. Lemay, Renai (13 August 2009). "Former Bob Hawke staffer to lead DBCDE". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 29 January 2014.
4. Murphy, Katharine (13 August 2009). "'Mandarins' on roll in public service reshuffle". The Age (Fairfax Media). Archived from the original on 29 January 2014.
5. Outgoing department secretary Patricia Scott, Australian Mobil Telecommunications Association, 2009, archived from the original on 2 May 2013
6. Rudd, Kevin (13 August 2009). "Departmental secretaries and statutory office-holders, Canberra" (Press release). Archived from the original on 10 November 2013.
7. Patricia Scott: Commissioner, Productivity Commission – Key Findings from the Draft Report, Every Australian Counts, 11 May 2011, archived from the original on 29 January 2014

References and further reading

• Malone, Paul (2006), "Chapter 5: Starting from Scratch – Patricia Scott, Department of Human Services", Australian department heads under Howard : career paths and practice (PDF), Canberra, Australia: The Australian National University, pp. 25–29, ISBN 1-920942-83-1, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013
• Scott, Patricia (2012), "Chapter 12: Our custodial role for the quality of advisory relations at the centre of government", in Wanna, John; Vincent, Sam; Podger, Andrew, With the Benefit of Hindsight: Valedictory Reflections from Departmental Secretaries 2004-11, pp. 117–123